


The World is Beating you Down

by Resacon1990



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and fluff and humor, Boyd and Derek are bros, Boyd gets shit done, Boyd is a realist, Boyd is so sick of everyones shit, Boyd ships Sterek hard, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Derek Has Feelings, Derek is a Bad Alpha, Derek is a Good Alpha, Derek is just an Alpha, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned Kate Argent, POV Vernon Boyd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 22:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1363765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resacon1990/pseuds/Resacon1990
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Werewolves?" he says incredulously to Derek.</p><p>"Werewolves."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The World is Beating you Down

He has the reputation of never speaking. Of being the quiet person in the corner who watches others, doesn't say much, keeps his opinions to himself.

But in reality? Boyd wishes he could talk all the time. Like Stiles, who babbles about _male circumcision_ just to fill up silences. Or Lydia, who orders and demands. Or Scott, who waxes poetry about Allison. Or Erica with her dirty comments or Isaac with his stupid and often over the top threats. He wants to be like all of them as he sits in the cafeteria by himself staring at them all in envy.

He wants to be noticed.

"Werewolves?" he says incredulously to Derek.

"Werewolves."

 

* * *

 

Scott tries to talk him out of it. _Too late_ , Boyd thinks to himself as he sees Derek followed by Isaac and Erica walk across the ice. He can't stop himself from rolling his eyes as Derek starts waffling on, and when Erica and Isaac _suck_ at fighting.

But he finds it entertaining as he watches Derek and Scott brawl before he slips off the zamboni and follows the others out of the rink. 

The other two leave, Isaac to Derek's and Erica to her own house. Derek stays with Boyd though and they walk beside each other silently towards Boyd's home.

"Are you going to say anything?" Boyd finally asks after a bit. He's use to silence, but he's not use to Derek who looks at him with a small smile.

"I was waiting for you to," he replies, and his voice is not sarcastic at all.

 

* * *

 

Derek doesn't train him as much as the others. He puts them through their paces, works them hard and treats them harshly. Boyd watches with a turned up nose as Erica kisses Derek, and can't help but feel satisfied when he throws her off of him.

The two of them leave Derek and Boyd to themselves again, off to lick their wounds, and Boyd climbs off the stairs to stand in front of Derek with crossed arms.

"Are you ever going to teach me?" he demands, and Derek raises an eyebrow.

"I was waiting for you to ask me," Derek tells him before he beckons with his left hand and holds up his fists.

Boyd just stares at him for a moment before he cocks his head to the side, "why?"

"You have a voice," Derek informs him before suddenly he's lunging forward and Boyd is scrambling back to avoid a harsh swipe of claws, "time for you to start using it."

 

* * *

 

When he gets on to the lacrosse field it's accelerating. He's _finally_ noticed for once, finally not tucked away in a corner by himself. He ignores Scott when he tells him about his eyes, he keeps going. 

Because he feels _good_.

The game finishes soon though, but he's still clapped on the back and acknowledged and he can't stop himself from calling out victory cheers with the rest of his team. He leaves feeling like he's floating, and he tries to find Derek to tell him that _he won_.

He waits two and a half hours until Derek finally comes stumbling in through the door, smelling like chlorine and Stiles, and Boyd rolls his eyes from his position on the couch.

"Have fun?" he asks, and Derek flicks him a rude gesture as he collapses on the opposite couch.

"No, but now we know what we're up against," Derek mutters into a pillow and Boyd grins.

"Is it the massive boner you have for Stilinski?"

He laughs when Derek lobs the pillow at him.

 

* * *

 

"You realise your plan is stupid right?" he says to Derek as they watch Erica and Isaac disappear to get Jackson, "and entirely _not_ fool proof?"

"Why did I ever bite you?" Derek retorts, and Boyd rolls his eyes.

He leaves quickly after that. He doesn't want to be part of Derek's attempts to be all menacing and intimidating. He doesn't know who the Kanima is, but he's convinced that Derek is being an idiot about finding out who it is.

Jackson fails the test. It's just Lydia. 

He argues with Derek about his control over Erica and Isaac, and Derek tells him he's just a stupid beta. Boyd faces off against Scott on the field, walks away with Derek. Watches as the other two fail _again_ against Scott and his pack.

Watches as they realise the Kanima _is_ Jackson not Lydia.

"All I ever do is watch," he points out to Derek.

Derek's gaze is hard. "Then say something." 

 

* * *

 

So he does. He slams his fists down and demands for Derek to teach him to fight, to involve him more.

And Derek agrees. Boyd finds himself being taught to fight every second night, being dragged into conversations with him. They talk a lot, and Boyd finds that he does have a voice and soon it's constantly out there.

He's sarcastic, he's funny, he's serious and witty. He laughs and he snorts, and Derek watches him every time with an encouraging smile despite Boyd never really stopping his tangents when he begins them.

But Derek doesn't seem to mind. Boyd realises that Derek is a quiet person, but definitely on purpose. He's overheard Stilinski mumbling things about Derek under his breath, and he's put pieces together about Derek's past. So Boyd talks into the silences between them and Derek gives him the time to do so.

 

* * *

 

"Why Derek?" Scott asks him one time at lunch, and Stilinski is beside him when they sit by Boyd. Erica stiffens and Boyd rests a hand on hers to try calm her down.

"Go find Isaac," he says, and she gives him the side eye before she gets up and leaves Boyd with the other two.

"Boyd?" Scott rushes him, and Boyd feels a spike of instant irritation.

"Because he lets me talk _in my own time_ ," Boyd snaps back, and he watches as Scott recoils and he finds it satisfying even though Stilinski is leaning forward in interest, "because he's a better Alpha than you can ever be, McCall."

For him, anyway, Boyd acknowledges in his head as he gets up to find his pack mates. Derek will always be the better Alpha for him.

 

* * *

 

He mentions the lunch to Derek who instantly stiffens.

"You really said that?" he asks, and Boyd nods slowly, before he snorts, "we both know that's bullshit, Boyd. You could do much better than me."

"I could," Boyd says, "but I don't want too."

Derek looks at him with this soft gaze that Boyd is definitely not use to, but then Erica is bouncing into the room and throwing herself at Boyd with a squeal and the moment is gone.

 

* * *

 

The hunters wound them enough that Derek barks at Boyd to run. He knows Derek well enough now not to argue so after Derek barks at him he goes. He takes the camero and waits back at Derek's impatiently. 

He's near hysterical when Isaac and Erica crash in, and instantly he's wrapping the two into hugs and they're grasping him tightly back as they sink to the ground in a wound up mix. 

"Where's Derek?" Boyd finally manages to gasp out. Isaac's hand just tightens on his collar and Erica looks up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Deaton's," she murmurs, and Boyd runs a hand through her hair as she lies her head on his shoulder, "Scott got hurt."

"Will he be okay?"

"He should be," and she falls silent after that, just her breath beating against Boyd's neck softly. 

He stays with them until they fall asleep, then he bundles them onto the couch and wait and waits and _waits_ for Derek to turn up.

When he does, he smells like antiseptic, Scott, wolfsbane and Stiles. Boyd doesn't stop himself from drawing his Alpha into a quick hug before smirking at him.

"Good night?" he asks, and Derek laughs as he hits him gently.

"Stiles turned up at the vets," he says with a roll of his eyes, "it got even more painful."

"Don't say you didn't like it," and the look Derek gives him makes him grin even more before he drags his Alpha down onto the couch with the other two. 

 

* * *

 

"Scott's part of our pack now?" Boyd snaps as he storms into the station, and Derek looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"He came over literally an hour ago," Derek says as he sits up from his position on the floor, and Boyd frowns because Derek never just _lies_ on the ground, "how do you know?"

"Stiles," and Boyd almost finds it hilarious how Derek's heartbeat picks up at the kids name, "can't keep his trap shut. I bumped into him in town."

Derek rolls his eyes as he gets to his feet, "course he can't," he says as he does so, "the kid is a motor mouth."

Boyd smirks at him before he raises his fists, "training?" he offers and Derek gives a sharp nod as he moves forward and the two fall into a gentle rhythm.

 

* * *

 

"… alpha, beta and omega?"

"That's right."

Boyd feels warm inside when Derek nods at him, and Erica's hand runs up his arm with her mouth in a grin that makes Boyd want to tug her down into a kiss. He just leans against the subway car with a satisfied grin and catches her hand in his.

It's nearly painful to hear Derek so casually say they might kill him when he chains them up later, and he hates hearing Erica's screams. His hand scrambles for hers when she whimpers his name, and he mumbles encouraging words as Derek chains up Isaac down the way.

"It's going to be a bad full moon, isn't it?" he asks as Derek checks on them one last time. He can already feel the wolf crawling beneath his skin and the itching of his claws around his fingertips.

Derek surprisingly presses their foreheads together before he just nods and leaves the room. 

The wolf takes over.

 

* * *

 

He wakes up to see Derek nowhere in sight. There's a small layer of purple dust on the ground outside the subway car that Isaac identifies as wolfsbane and Erica says she can smell Lydia.

"What do we do?" she asks after a hesitant moment and Boyd shakes his head.

"We wait."

So they do, and Derek does come back to them, and he stares at Boyd with wide eyes that makes him ache a little inside. 

"Peter is back," he mumbles, and Isaac and Erica look confused but Boyd just swears and drags him over to the couch.

"Guys, I need to talk to Derek," he says and Erica is instantly pulling Isaac from the room. He gives her a thankful look, she blows him a kiss, he turns back to Derek.

"What happened?"

And Derek tells him. tells him about Lydia and Peter coming back and the station, and he mentions Stiles lying on top of him and Scott talking to Gerard and Matt being the psycho murderer slash Kanima's master, and he runs through everything while Boyd sits and listens and curses everything.

"He's going to betray you, you know," he ends up saying, and Derek looks at him with something he can only relate to complete dislike.

"I know."

"I don't think you do," Boyd insists, "because it's not like you're doing anything about it. Scott's going to betray you, but I _know_ you're just gonna sit here and hope he doesn't because that's you. You put so much blind trust into Scott McCall."

Derek runs his hands through his hair, and Boyd sympathises for a moment before he falls silent and waits. He knows theres no point in lecturing Derek, and he knows there's something else on his mind he has yet to say.

Derek doesn't say it though, just squeezes Boyd's shoulder.

 

* * *

 

Erica decides to leave. 

She tells Boyd who instantly hates the idea, and she says she's going to try convince Isaac. She tells him to go home and pack his bags and he goes home. He goes to _Derek_.

"Erica wants to leave," he says as a greeting, and the smile that Derek had on his face in greeting slips off.

"I know."

"You _know_?"

Derek's laugh is humourless and Boyd feels it like a punch.

"Of course," he remarks bitterly, "and you're going with her."

"I don't want to," Boyd insists. Because he doesn't. Because Derek is _his Alpha_ and he won't leave him. Because this is the man who taught him to _talk_ and not be alone and this is the man who is his best friend and _no_.

"Yes, she needs someone to watch her."

"She'll have Isaac."

Derek raises an eyebrow and shakes his head. "We both know that Isaac will stay for Scott," he sighs.

Boyd doesn't like this one bit, and he takes a small step forward, "you'll be alone," he says, "with no betas."

"I'll still have you, won't I?" Derek asks, and Boyd quickly nods his head. He doesn't know how it'll work, being Derek's beta but not being around him, but he will make it work.

"Tonight's the big hit on the Kanima though, isn't it?"

"We'll be fine."

"Scott will betray you."

"I know."

Boyd sighs, because there's nothing else to say. Derek knows it all, knows how it's all going to end, yet he still wants Boyd to leave. He quietly moves forward and hugs Derek tightly.

"Do me a favour after you've stopped that thing," he says into Derek's leather jacket, "make a move on Stiles. The sexual tension is killing me, and I'm not even there for when you two are together. I don't envy Scott at all."

Derek laughs and pats his back.

"Three days," Boyd mutters, "we'll be back in three days max."

 

* * *

 

Maybe not three days, Boyd thinks as he's riddled with arrows and Erica screams.

Maybe not three days, Boyd thinks as they're strung up and tortured by a geriatric man who beats up Stiles in front of them.

Maybe not three days, Boyd thinks as the Alpha pack throws them into the bank.

 _Derek_ , he tries to scream down the bond he knows is still there between him and Derek, but all he hears back is a static _Boyd?_ before all is black.

 

* * *

 

It takes a week for Erica to stop blaming Derek for the mess they're in. Boyd's thankful for it, but he doesn't know if he prefers her crying over how stupid she was to how Derek was a terrible Alpha.

"Hey," he calls to her one night as she lies agains the wall on the other side of the room, "Erica?"

She looks up, her face is a mess, and Boyd offers his arms for her to crawl into. She takes him up on it, instantly curling into his chest, and he hugs her tightly as she cries into his neck.

"I love you, you know," she says after a while, and Boyd kisses the top of her head.

"I love you too."

He wonders how long it'll take for Derek to get them out once she's asleep in his arms and he's left to stare at the ceiling.

 

* * *

 

"You really think he'll save you?" Kali sneers as she kicks Boyd, and he hears Erica calling his name from where she's being held back by the twins, "Derek Hale cares nothing for you."

Boyd snorts, the blood from his nose splattering onto the ground, "you're right," he says, and he watches as Kali stops short, and he can't help but smirk at her, "he's too busy caring for some deranged teenager with a hyperactive disorder."

She obviously doesn't appreciate his humour as she calls him pathetic and drags her claws down his back.

It's not until Erica is holding his head in her lap and he's trying to quieten her crying that he realises that maybe mentioning Stiles wasn't the best idea.

"Erica-" he starts, but she shushes him with a kiss and he settles down, the thoughts leaving him. 

 

* * *

 

"Boyd?"

He looks up when Erica says his name. She's just sitting against one of the bars that lines the rooms, and he quirks his head at her as her eyes settle on him.

"What do you think will happen to us on the lunar eclipse?" she asks, and Boyd goes to answer but she keeps talking, "they last for hours, you know, because it's just the earth's shadow."

She pauses long enough for him to smile at her and shrug his shoulders, and he winces when he feels Kali's claws dig into his shoulder blade as she walks past. He doesn't actually know why she's in here, he doesn't care, he just focuses on Erica as she continues to talk.

"I wonder what will happen to us," she muses and she smiles too, "maybe it'll make us stronger."

It seems to click right then what she's going to do as her smile slips from her face and she glares at Kali, the words "I _hope_ it'll make us stronger" coming out as a snarl before she's rising to her feet with her eyes glowing.

Boyd tries to say no, tries to stop her by calling out, and he's getting to his feet as well but suddenly Ennis is there and holding him down as he screams for Erica. 

He watches as she's clawed to pieces, as she ripped and ruined and as Kali takes great joy of throwing her to the ground and slowly choking her. The twins are standing in the entrance, one looks guilty but the other looks bloodthirsty as he starts forward to help.

It's when she's thrown to the ground the second time, stab wounds and claw marks riddling everywhere a major organ is located, that Ennis lets Boyd go, and he tries to scrabble towards her as his body wracks with sobs.

"Boyd…" she manages to gasp out, her hand reaching for him, and he reaches to grab hers but it's suddenly limp, suddenly falling to the ground, and Boyd is roaring and screaming for his loss.

 

* * *

 

He's not alone for long. _She's_ been gone for less than two days when the door opens and a small figure is thrown into the room.

Boyd can't find it in himself to do anything but stare, and when bright but sad eyes look up at him he glances away.

She sits on one side of the room, he sits on the other, and he doesn't speak to her. 

 

* * *

 

"I'm Cora," she says after a few days, and Boyd looks at her with a raised eyebrow before he nods.

"Boyd," he replies stiffly, and she smiles at him and moves closer. 

 

* * *

 

"Why are you here?" he finally cracks and asks a week later, and Cora looks up at him with wide eyes. It's the first thing besides his name he's said to her, and he tries to force a smile onto his face.

It doesn't work, but she answers anyway.

"I," she hesitates and Boyd finds himself thinking he won't ask again, "I heard that a Hale was starting a pack, that someone from my family was _alive_ and-"

"Wait," he interrupts, his heart thudding madly at the name, "you're a Hale?"

She looks confused but nods slowly.

"Are you Derek's sister?"

 

* * *

 

They bond after that. Eight weeks come and go, there's only minimal interruptions of the Alpha Pack, and mostly it's the guiltier looking twin who comes in with food and water, and sometimes Deucalion.

"They've been told to stay away," he informs Boyd, "as they disrespected my rules. I had not intended for your young mate to die."

Boyd doesn't care. Boyd turns away. Boyd focuses on Cora and thoughts of escape, thoughts of Derek coming for them and ripping open those who killed _her_ , and hopes that's enough of a distraction to get rid of the memory of _her_ sightless eyes and bloodied body. 

 

* * *

 

She kisses him one day.

"What are you doing?" he demands, and she shrugs from where she's sitting right beside him.

"Looking for comfort."

"Take comfort in knowing your brother is coming for us," Boyd growls and moves away from her. He doesn't acknowledge her for the rest of the day.

He succumbs two days later, and he tries not to feel like he's disrespecting _her_ when he lets Cora in.

 

* * *

 

He hears the thud of something against the wall, and he feels something in him spark that he _barely_ recognises as his pack bond, the bond with Derek.

It flares in him, hard and hot and bright, and beside him Cora is clutching to his arm. He grins at her, "he's here," he says, and she looks at him with wide eyes.

"Derek?" she whispers, and he nods.

The wall crumbles, Derek rolls in, Boyd feels his heart start racing, the moonlight floods in.

 

* * *

 

He wakes up to a bloodied Derek shucking off his shirt and throwing it in a nearby hamper. Well, what's left of a shirt, and he glances down to look at himself and sees matching blood littering himself.

"Did I hurt you?" he asks, and Derek looks back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No," but Boyd hears the way Derek's heartbeat stutters with a lie, and he slowly climbs out of the bed he was lying on, the one that smells like Derek, and untangles himself from Cora's limbs. She's covered in blood too, and Boyd winces as vague memories of claws sinking into flesh rip through him.

He turns to Derek, sees the way the man looks weary, and Boyd can't stop himself from grinning as he suddenly rushes forward.

"Thank you," he mumbles into Derek's shoulder as he clings to his Alpha, "thank you thank you thankyouthankyou _thankyou_."

Derek doesn't say anything back, just hugs him tightly and sinks them both to the ground.

"Erica…" Derek says after a moment, and Boyd stiffens before tears sting his eyes.

"She's-" but Derek cuts him off with a sad smile.

"I know," and he tugs Boyd close to him again, "we'll give her a good funeral, a proper one, I promise." 

 

* * *

 

The loft, and he laughs because Derek has a _loft_ , smells like Derek, Isaac and Peter. He can smell faint traces of Scott, and a _lot_ of Stiles, and he turns to Derek as they sit on the couch waiting for Cora to wake up.

"Did you go for him like I said?' Boyd asks, and even though there's so much else to talk about Boyd needs to feel light-hearted, needs to just take a break.

Derek looks at him sadly as he leans into the pillows piled on the couch and Boyd sinks closer to him.

"He's seventeen," Derek says softly, and Boyd cringes and reaches out to pat Derek's knee.

"You're not Kate," Boyd reassures, but Derek just gives him a small smile that Boyd _knows_ is one of disbelief, and changes the topic. 

 

* * *

 

Isaac barrels in after school later in the day, Scott and Stiles trailing behind him, and Boyd barely has time to steady himself before Isaac is slamming into him, and even then they still topple to the ground.

"I missed you," Isaac sobs against his chest, "I missed you so goddamn much, shit, _shit Boyd_."

Boyd just laughs through the mouthful of curls and hugs Isaac to him even tighter. The ache in his heart since _her_ death subsides a bit more, just like it had after his hug with Derek, and the reassuring bonds of pack fills him. He can feel something missing though, and he knows that it's Isaac's allegiance to their alpha, but it doesn't stop Isaac from nuzzling into Derek's hand when he walks over to place one on each of their heads.

Scott stays back, hovering by the couch as he watches them with a small smile, but Stiles comes right up to stand by Derek and grins down at Boyd.

"Good to have you back," he says, and Boyd looks up at him with his own smile, and before he really thinks about it he reaches up and takes Stiles's wrist to tug him down into their pile. He just laughs though and hugs Boyd tightly.

Boyd doesn't miss the way his eyes linger on Derek, and he laughs aloud. At least some things are still normal, and he can, for just a _minute_ pretend everything is.

 

* * *

 

Stiles takes him home to see his family, and waits patiently as Boyd hugs them all tightly and promises he'll be home _properly_ to stay, that he needs to do some things but will be back. Then he climbs back into the jeep and Stiles takes him to _her_ house.

Derek and Isaac are already outside, and Boyd accepts Derek's squeeze on the shoulder and Isaac's little hip-check. The four of them enter and leave within the hour, Boyd leaning heavily on Derek as the heaviness of _her_ parent's sadness weighs him down.

"Take me home," he mumbles to Stiles, and Stiles fidgets with his keys as he looks at him in worry.

"We still need to go to the sheriff station-"

"Home," he grunts before he slides in the back of jeep beside Isaac and curls up against him. Derek looks worried, _feels_ worried but Boyd offers him a tired smile and he seems to quieten down as he talks in low tones to Stiles the whole ride home.

It's only when they're a block away from his family's house that Boyd realises where he's being taken, and he leans forward to growl " _home_ " in Stiles ear.

He doesn't know the loft, but it smells like pack. And pack is home.

 

* * *

 

"Seriously?" he says as lounges on the couch beside Peter, addressing Derek as he walks in the door, "you went and saw her? Why?"

Derek gives him a look, that Boyd would definitely call reproachful, before he walks over and sinks into the armchair on the other side of the coffee table. 

"I went to see if she is okay," Derek informs them, and Boyd snorts at the same time as Peter, and for a moment he shares a bit of comradeship with the man over their Alpha's actual stupidity.

"You know what I heard then?" Peter says with a smirk and with his voice similar to the sound of honey that's been literally torn from a bee, aka _extremely_ bitter honey, and Boyd rolls his eyes. 

"Do I want to?"

Peter grins, "I hear a lie. Because you didn't go to check on her, you went for a _distraction_ -"

"Shut up, Peter," Boyd interrupts before he plants a glare on Derek, "he is right though. Since when have you ever cared about other people? Not to mention you sort of reek of hormones that aren't yours. _Really_ aren't yours."

Derek shifts uncomfortably in his seat, and Boyd watches with a raised eyebrow as he drops his head and links his fingers together. "She seems like a good option," Derek explains quietly, "she already knows about the supernatural, she's interested, she's _human_ , I don't think she has any intentions on butchering my pack-"

"Sorry, are we talking about Miss Blake or Stiles?" Boyd snaps, "because the only thing separating them is the gender pronouns." 

Peter's laughing beside him, but Boyd doesn't care as he stands up and moves to glare down at Derek.

"I thought that when you'd rescue us you'd at _least_ have figured out what's going on up here," he pauses to tap his finger against Derek's temple, "and down here," he taps Derek's chest, "and I would've thought you'd have at least pulled yourself together. You clearly haven't by the looks of it. I can help you, Derek, but being an idiot on purpose is beside me."

Derek's quiet and Boyd takes a deep breath before he turns to leave. 

" _He's seventeen_."

"I didn't say have sex with him," Boyd snaps, "just bloody acknowledge what's between you and save us from all this stupid angst."

 

* * *

 

It's terrifying walking back through the halls. Amongst the press of people. Isaac's beside him at least, his hand on his elbow and steering him straight. Derek had dropped them off, saying he'd be waiting at the end of school to take them back to the loft, and Boyd was sort of thankful that he hadn't had to deal with his family's nerves as well as his own.

There's a locker covered in post-it-notes and cards that he sees, and he pauses once to look at it before he registers it as Kyle's locker. He glances at Isaac who bites his lip and looks at the ground.

"Sacrifice, we think," he mumbles, and Boyd feels his whole body literally droop at the explanation.

He's back later, noticing the amount of flowers piled up now, to slip a piece of paper with " _crossed into the blue_ " scrawled across it and the emblem of the R.O.T.C group. He slides it gently against a couple of other tributes before he stands up to walk away.

"Hey, Boyd! I didn't know you were back at school."

He pauses at Stiles's voice, and he realises that the guy he'd walked around was in fact Stilinski, and he nods at him before he pauses and mulls over the words.

"Yeah," he mutters, "I would have told you, but we're not actually friends."

The hurt is pretty obvious on Stiles's face, and he feels a bit of regret at his choice of words because they are a _total lie_ , but Stiles seems to just shrug it off with a "oh yeah" and Boyd turns to leave.

"Hey, so did you, uh…" and Boyd raises an eyebrow in expectancy as Stiles trips over his words, "so did you know Kyle?"

"Yeah, we were in junior R.O.T.C. together."

Stiles nods his head slowly before asking, "so you two were friends, then?"

Boyd feels the words like a personal blow, his stomach dropping and throat clenching shut. His eyes sting a bit as he thinks _friend_ and _her_ face pops up in his hair with her bouncy golden hair and wicked grin, and he feels himself almost physically stagger.

"I only had one friend," he croaks out before staring at Stiles coldly, "she's dead too."

 

* * *

 

"You're being ridiculous," Boyd snarls well after Isaac is out of earshot, not that it matters too much since there is a _storm_ outside, and Cora slinks off to curl up on Derek's bed.

Derek's hands are in tight fists, and his eyes are nearly wild as he narrows them at Boyd. "Are you challenging my authority?" he snaps back, and his voice has that creepy tilt to it, the one that sounds like there's some sort of demon possessing him.

Boyd barks a laugh and rolls his eyes. "Of course not," he snorts, "but I should. At least if I were Alpha I wouldn't kick my pack out when they're all alone."

Derek deflates, his hands clutching the desk as if it's the only thing holding him up, as he mumbles, "he's not alone. He has Scott."

"You realise you've all but driven him to him?" Boyd points out harshly before he steps right up to the desk and leans against it from his side, "Derek, I know you're trying-"

"No," Derek cuts him off, "no you don't. You're just a kid, Boyd." He raises his head and Boyd for once doesn't say anything. "You and Isaac, and _Cora_ , you're all kids. And the Alpha Pack was here. They took down Cora, they _rammed a bloody pole through me_. How can I defend you when I can't even defend me and my sister?"

"So you send us away?"

"I send you to _safety_ ," Derek sighs, "even if it means having to act like a giant asshole and driving Isaac to another pack, at least he'll be safe." He looks at Boyd and gives him this stupid self-deprecating smile, "you'd be smart to follow."

Boyd snorts and slams his hands on the desk as he stalks away.

"You heard me once, Derek," he calls over his shoulder when he reaches the door, "you're _my_ Alpha. Not Scott McCall."

 

* * *

 

"You know Isaac likes you right," he mentions to Cora as they sit on the steps to the staircase, watching Peter and Derek angrily fight over Scott. Once again Boyd thinks Derek's being an idiot in trusting the boy, he's already betrayed him once.

"He does?" she asks sarcastically as she leans into Boyd, her face against his bare shoulder and Boyd admits it feels nice, "I hadn't noticed."

"He follows you like a puppy dog," Boyd snorts and she laughs softly, her breath ghosting down his arm. 

"At least he's not as bad as my brother and that spazz you deign to call human," she points out, and Boyd hums in acknowledgement before she sighs, "so this is it then?"

"I'm sorry."

They sit in silence for a bit, the two just sinking in each others company like they haven't in a while and won't for a long time to come, until Derek calls up to them. Boyd doesn't miss the way his voice is softer and his smile is less condescending, and he nudges Cora lightly until she groans.

"Come on," he grins and offers her a hand she takes, "we've got some Alpha's we need to fight."

 

* * *

 

He's surprised he can actually register what's happening over the pain radiating through him. His back is on fire, his whole body is on fire, the slashes and cuts from Ennis leaving him gasping as he pushes himself up from the ground and turns to look at Derek.

He can practically _feel_ the agony from his Alpha, and he can hear Deucalion's mocking tone before Kali is suddenly sneering at Derek.

"What'll it be, Derek? Pack… or Family?"

Cora's throat is being crushed under Kali's foot, Boyd realises, and for a brief moment Cora's not there, _she_ is, and he can't bear the thought of Kali killing another so close to him. He can't bear the thought that Derek will loose another family member, this one for the second time, and he stares at Derek with wide eyes.

Family, he tries to scream with his eyes, choose family. He wouldn't mind going, joining _her_ and just getting away from it all. Derek would be okay, he'd be alright, he's had worse.

Derek looks scared though, Boyd realises, scared and lost, and he whimpers loud enough to get Derek's attention.

A decision isn't made though as suddenly everything is lit up and everyone is crying out, and Cora and Derek have hands on him to tug him away. He goes with them and lets them take most of his weight, and it's not until they're beside the first column that he looks back.

Because of _course_ Scott _idiot_ McCall lunges at Ennis, of course he thinks he can take him on, and Boyd has the urge to rip Scott's head off and feed it to Ennis as a treat because Scott is just _so damn stupid_. 

And of course Derek sprints forward to help, dropping Boyd's weight onto Cora with a grunt before he throws himself into the brawl with as much gusto as possible.

Then Boyd can't hear anything over the howls, his howl, Cora's howl, Isaac's and Scott's, even Peter's from two stories up, and the guilty twin's and Kali's, can't hear anything as they all watch in horror.

Watch as Ennis and Derek pitch over the side of the ledge in what seems to be stunned silence, their eyes wide and confused as they plummet, and then there's a loud thunk and Boyd's bond with his Alpha rattles once… twice…

Then it's gone.

 

* * *

 

Ethan, his name is Ethan. Finally Boyd can put a name to the face as he listens in on Danny and the twin's conversation, Isaac's voice babbling incoherently in his ear.

He can feel the wolf in him bubbling under the skin, his claws extending and piercing into the leather of the seat in front of him, his eyes glinting that sickening yellow, his fangs growing. He can feel a growl bubbling in his throat and a small smirk slips onto his face.

 _For Derek_ , he thinks just as he goes to lunge out of his seat.

Isaac's hand scrabble on his bicep, unable to find a hold, but it's Scott suddenly in front of him and clutching his wrist that makes him pause.

"Let. Go." His voice is hoarse and hard, and he gets satisfaction from seeing Scott flinch before his face morphs into something Boyd can describe as determinations.

"You got a plan?" he asks, "tell me your brilliant plan, and I'll let go," his hand squeezes enough for Boyd to want to rip himself from Scott's grip and deal to him instead, "what are you going to do? Kill him, right here? And then what? What are you gonna do after that?"

"I don't care," Boyd hisses, because he doesn't. He really doesn't. Revenge just crawls through his veins like liquid fire, something that can only be put out with more blood.

The thought that he's sounding more like Peter actually makes him calm down a little, right as Scott mutters "I do," and he sees the relief on his face and Isaac's hand squeezes reassuringly. 

He wants to snort, Scott did nothing, Scott is not his Alpha. No matter how much Isaac wants him to join him in this ridiculous puppy dog act, he will not submit to a child. 

"… Give me a chance to figure something out, something that doesn't have to end with someone else dying."

Always the hero, Boyd wants to sneer, but instead he just mutters a "okay" before turning back to the front and avoiding eye contact with Isaac.

 

* * *

 

It's not even him that cracks first, Boyd realises with a laugh as he watches Isaac attack Ethan, and even if its because of Isaac's loyalty to Scott instead of Derek it doesn't make Ethan's bloodied face any less sweeter.

"Boyd! Make him stop!" Stiles frantically calls in his ear, but Boyd raises an eyebrow at him and shakes his head.

"Why?" he asks, "why should I? He deserves this. He deserves _more_ than this," he pauses and looks at the panicking Stiles with a smirk, "don't say you're not enjoying this too."

Stiles just stands with his mouth hanging open, and when he glances at the twin Boyd can feel the turmoil mixed with satisfaction rolling off the other, before he suddenly shakes his head.

"Derek _doesn't_ deserve this," Stiles mutters, and it sounds forced and pained and betrayed, and Boyd feels sorry for him.

"He deserves to be alive."

Boyd watches him for a moment longer, Stiles looking torn, before he blinks back the tears that Boyd only just notices and rushes off towards the bathrooms.

Boyd turns back to the beating.

 

* * *

 

He remembers throwing off the safe, hearing the smash of it against the wall, the tingling of his skin as it heals from what he guesses is a burn, the frenzied screams of Stiles and Lydia, the water dripping from him as they haul him from the tub.

Then he's on the carpet, shivering inside a towel as he watches them sprint from the room, Stiles pausing once to glance down at him, then he's distracted by the small calls of help from Isaac and he tugs him out from under the bed into his embrace.

"W-What…" Isaac begins but Boyd shakes his head, they'll ask later, and he stands to find clothes. He tugs them on in a hurry, the sound of sobbing reaching his ears from outside, the crackling of a flare and Scott's voice saying " _there's no hope_ ", and Isaac looks terrified as he obviously hears the same thing.

Boyd bundles him out the door, both pausing on the veranda to look down, and Boyd swears when he sees Stiles standing in a puddle of gasoline trying to take a flare from Scott. Isaac whimpers beside him with his claws digging into Boyd's forearms.

It's over before they even hit the bottom of the stairs, the puddle exploding as the two girls and boys crash into a bunch of tangled limps, and Boyd rushes with Isaac to help pull them to their feet.

Scott's breathing frantically, his eyes wide as he stares at Stiles, but then Allison is tugging him away muttering something about getting him clean, Isaac is hugging a tearful Lydia and Stiles is standing looking ready to shatter any moment.

"The bus," he suddenly croaks, "we all need to sleep on the bus. It's safe."

Boyd doesn't argue as he reaches out and guides Stiles up the steps and down towards a seat, hearing Isaac following, and he allows Stiles to tug him down beside him with a hard grip on his hand.

"Rough night," Boyd states quietly, and a hysterical laugh burst from Stiles lips that startles Boyd, Isaac and Lydia enough that the other two slip into the seat in front and look down on them with wide eyes.

"It's all _his_ fault, you know," Stiles sobs, tears streaming down his face as the hysterical laugh still bubbles out, "all _his_ stupid fault for dying on us. I can't… I can't forgive him for doing that, for leaving us. How dare he. Why…" he cuts himself off with a sharp hiccup that has Lydia reaching forward to run her hand through her hair and Isaac taking up his other hand. 

Boyd wonders if he can suck emotional pain from someone, but when he tries there's nothing, he can't take anything, and he nearly whimpers.

"I loved _him_ ," Stiles gasps, "and now… I'll never know what his stupid answer would be."

Boyd doesn't have to ask who he's talking about, not because it's obvious, but because he himself still finds it hard to say _her_ name and it's been months now.

They sit with Stiles until Scott and Allison arrive, then Boyd moves down to the back with Isaac and watches as Scott lies on the seat in front of Stiles but slips a hand back to him to hold.

Not a good Alpha, Boyd thinks, but maybe an okay friend.

 

* * *

 

Ethan's statement has him on edge all the way home, all the way until they're back at the school and yet he still waits with the others until everyone has cleared off the bus.

As soon as he steps off the smell of _Derek_ and _blood_ hits him like a tidal wave, and he's gasping as he reaches for Isaac to hold him up. Scott's eyes are wide too, Isaac looks torn between angry and ecstatic, and the three humans just seem confused .

"Derek's alive," Scott says, and instantly Stiles seems to go ridged, his mouth open and hanging as words try to come out but end up spilling into a mess of incoherency. 

Isaac comes with him and Stiles, the three of them piling into the jeep and tearing around to the loft as they leave Scott with the promise to come by later. Stiles stays in the jeep though, smiles at them wearily with the explanation that he'd rather not be ripped to pieces, and Boyd just nods as he tugs Isaac up the stairs.

He's not one foot into the loft when the overwhelming stench of _sex_ hits him, and he can't stop himself from roaring as he lunges at Derek, lunges with his teeth bared and claws out, and Derek looks wide eyed and frightened for the briefest of moments before they clash.

There's yelling from behind them, a mixture of Isaac's and Peter's, but Boyd doesn't care as he just tries to rip _something_ out of Derek. He swipes and bites and punches, and he gets more than he's given but he doesn't care until he's flat on his back and glaring up at Derek.

"You had _sex_ with _that fucking teacher_ ," Boyd roars, "instead of telling _your pack you're alive_."

"Boyd-"

He shoves Derek's foot from his chest and stands up with a growl. "To think," he snarls, "that I _defended_ you, that I called you the best Alpha for me, and then you do this shit? You are pathetic, Derek Hale."

Derek looks defeated, and Boyd finds it ironic that it's only in words that one can stop Derek, and he watches as his Alpha slips to the ground and covers his head with his hands.

"I didn't know what was happening," Derek mumbles, and it's only because of super hearing that Boyd picks up on what he's saying, "I… I went to the school to find you but I forgot about your trip. But I _did_ try to find you-"

"A text!" Isaac suddenly bellows, "a text or a phone call or _something_! It's called technology!"

Derek's eyes flash when he looks up, but there's no power behind it. "She told me that… that I needed to rest instead. That I could worry about you all later."

"She told you to _rest_?" Boyd asks, "then you had _sex_ with her? That's not rest!"

"I didn't mean to!" Derek suddenly cries, and there's not a lie in his heart beat which makes Boyd frown, "I didn't at all! I was half _dead_ , I could barely stand let alone do something as strenuous as sex! She… she was just trying to help-"

"If she were trying to help then she would've taken you to a _goddamn hospital_ ," a growl from the door comes, and Boyd flinches when he sees Stiles standing there with his fists clenched and his jaw ridged, and he hears Derek whimper at the sight of him.

"Stiles…"

"I can't believe you," Stiles gasps, once again hysteric, "I cried for you, Derek, I cried all over Boyd and Isaac and made myself look a dick in front of Lydia, all for _you_. And then I find out you were just having _sex_ with some stupid teacher from our school instead of telling us you were alive? _Scott almost killed himself because he thought you were dead_."

Despite his dislike for Scott, Boyd still admits that Stiles has a valid point, and he turns to glare at Derek who seems to be deflating second by second.

"I…" and Derek pauses to swallow before he looks straight at Stiles, "I went to the school to look… to look for _you_."

There's dead silence, and Boyd can hear the chuckle beginning to build up in Peter's chest and Isaac's heavy breathing, and the sudden _impact_ of what Derek just said hits him. Without looking at anyone he grabs both Peter and Isaac and hauls them from the room.

"What are you doing?" Isaac demands as he struggles in Boyd's hold, but Boyd shakes his head as he closes the door right before Stiles's raised voice starts up.

"They need time," he says quietly, "and we'll get our to rip him a new one later."

Peter still laughs when they hit the stairs, but Boyd is thankful that at least it's not near the other two.

 

* * *

 

The teacher sickens him, he realises as he looks at her standing in front of the class and trying to be funny when she's just _not_. He hates her, hates what she did to Derek and just _hates_ how stupid and naive she is.

He stands up in the middle of class and doesn't bother with an excuse as he leaves. He hears her calling for him, but luckily Stiles pipes up in the back distracting her and Boyd's surprised at how there's no anger or hatred radiating from him when he addresses her.

Maybe he and Derek did talk it out properly? Maybe not.

Isaac catches up beside him, obviously having walked out as well, and Boyd raises an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?" Isaac asks first though, and Boyd sighs.

"I'm going to save Derek," he says, referencing to the text they all got that morning about the Alpha Pack, and he pauses in his steps to look at Isaac with pursed lips, "will you help?"

Isaac looks hesitant before he slowly nods.

"He may be an ass now," Isaac explains as they walk to the nurses office, "but he's still my Alpha. Despite it all."

 

* * *

 

The water licks the boards they're sitting on, the sounds reminding Boyd of a beach really, and he finds himself feeling awfully at peace in the quiet of the room.

It's not quiet for long though, but Boyd doesn't mind as Isaac tilts his head to look at Derek.

"So, you talked to Stiles then?" he asks, and Boyd almost chokes in his attempt not to laugh at the look on Derek's face. It's priceless.

"I swear, you're all too heavily interested in my relationships," Derek mutters as he gets to his feet to lean against the wall, and Boyd shoots him a shit-eating grin.

"Well, someone has to be."

Derek doesn't answer for a bit before he sighs and looks at his hands. "He's seventeen," he mutters, "and no matter what you all say that's still illegal. Especially because his father is the Sheriff," he pauses and scrunches his face up, "but we've agreed to talk after everything is over. After the Alpha Pack is gone and the Darach is stopped."

Boyd hums in acknowledgment and grins at Derek, nodding his head in approval. It's a step in the right direction, and obsessed or not, Boyd is still convinced the two will be good for each other.

They lapse back into silence, and Boyd can't help but admire that it feels so _normal_ for a bit. He looks at Derek just standing against the wall brooding, at Isaac who's grinning as he plays a hand game by himself to keep himself entertained. It's comforting, it's _pack_.

"I miss _her_ ," he suddenly says, and he feels the courage bubble up inside of him as his mouth finally says it, finally says, " _Erica_. I miss _Erica_."

It's like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, the relief flooding him instantly, and he can't stop a small giddy smile appearing on his face as the other two chorus "so do we" at the same time, and Boyd feels his heart skid to a stop when the smile they exchange is affectionate.

He remembers what he use to think, before he was kidnapped and it was just their pack against the world and Scott, how he was Derek's best friend, how Erica was Derek's sister, how _Isaac_ was Derek's little brother, his son, his first beta. He remembers thinking those things and he watches the way they smile at each other, their bond not fixed but not as broken.

Boyd smiles as he tilts his head back, his eyes closed as it thunks against the wall.

 

* * *

 

"It's all okay."

"No, no. No, it's not. It's not."

"It's all okay, Derek."

"I'm… I'm sorry."

"The full moon. That feeling? That was worth it. There's a lunar eclipse. I always wondered what… what that felt like for one of us."

He sees her, sees Erica, her eyes and her hair and her smile as she all but dances around Derek just _waiting_ to take his hand. She's calling his name, giddy with excitement, and Boyd can't wait.

There's tears on Derek's face. He wants to brush them away. Wants to tell him not to cry and that it's _okay_. That he's going to be _okay_. That he's going to be with Erica and that it's him that should be sorry, not Derek. Because he's the one leaving _him_.

He wants to say so much. Wants to thank him, wants to tell him he's _always_ going to be his Alpha, that he believes in him. That he still thinks he's an idiot. That he's so happy that Derek got him to _talk_. That Derek gave him a pack and _happiness_ and Erica, and Cora, and Isaac. That he hopes Derek's talk with Stiles will go better. That he'll get rid of that stupid teacher. That Scott will stop betraying him. That he'll stop beating himself up over the little things. That he'll forgive himself. That he'll tell Peter to stop being so damn melodramatic.

That Derek will be _okay_.

He smiles, takes Erica's hand, and closes his eyes.

"For one of us."


End file.
